Candle in the Wind
by hippieforever
Summary: Kate Nichol, a young girl in Silver City, is thrust from a troubled life in her uncle's whore-house into a slightly more troubled life of crime and adventure with Billy the Kid- and his Regulators. Will loosely follow the 2nd Young Guns movie ENJOY :D
1. Chapter 1 Meet the Regulators

_HAHAHAHAHAHAAAA ok, now that thats out of the way, here is my story..... it's probably not very good, it's my first story... but anyhoo, if you dont like it, dont read it, and CERTAINLY dont leave negative comments. If you DO comment, just leave something to help me make it better, like suggestions.... and thats it :) ENJOY :D I DO NOT OWN YOUNG GUNS (although i wish i did...)_

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The day those Five men rode into Silver City New Mexico was the day that My life changed for good. They were a rugged bunch, you could tell they were wanted men just by looking at em. Clarissa and I watched them tether their horses outside of the brothel and file slowly in. We heard their voices as they entered, and we put on our working faces.  
Clarissa, a blond of average height, was usually the most popular among the newer patrons. She was my best friend, and had come to the brothel a year of so after I had. But I had more of a reputation among the local folk. There were other girls, too, of course, but they were newer, and couldn't quite hold their own yet.  
Clarissa and I checked each other over before heading down to meet the boys. When we reached to bottom of the stairs, we saw that they had already met the owner of the establishment- a rather disagreeable man in his late forties. Bald, short, fat, and ugly. Unshaven and sweaty. He was my uncle. Thank god there was no resemblance.  
He carried on the usual boastful conversation with the one who looked as if he might have been in charge. Clarissa and I joined the other girls in sauntering around the room eying the boys. The one my uncle was talking to, a short blond one, had caught Clarissa's attention and she was eying him provocatively as he stared back with a smirk on his face, ignoring my uncle's rant.  
I raked my eyes over the others one by one. Next in line was a tall dusty-blond, unshaven, and carrying a buffalo rifle. He was handsome enough, but didn't do much for me, so I left him for one of the other girls. I moved on to the next two, who were standing side by side, looking slightly uncomfortable. One was tall and dirty, and was chewing tobacco. The other was short and stalky, brown haired and with a button nose. Neither were much to look at, so I left them as well.  
But when the last one caught my eye, my heart skipped a beat. He was Indian, no doubt about it. He had long black hair and dark eyes, along with tan skin and a slightly bored expression. But he was very, very handsome. He saw my stare, and lifted the corner of his mouth into a polite smile. I smiled back seductively and followed him into the main room.  
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My Uncle invited them to sit on the many overstuffed pieces of furniture that littered the room. I walked over to the corner by the stair case and Clarissa met me there.  
"So what're ya thinking, Kate?" she asked in her slow Texas drawl.  
"I'm thinking that Indian over there is one mighty fine piece 'a work."  
"Indian? I didn't see."  
"He's over- never mind. Who're you likin'? I asked, as if I hadn't noticed.  
"Ooh, that blond over there is something."  
"He looks like he thinks highly enough of you." he did. He was ogling her from his seat across the room.  
"Aright. Time to work our magic."  
Clarissa laughed and walked over to the blond, who greeted her with some smooth comment. I paused for a moment before making my way over to the Indian. He looked around at me as I sat behind him on a wooden chair and began playing with his hair. He smiled a little, and turned around. We sat for another few minutes, listening to some idle chatter between the men and the women. Then, as Clarissa led the blond up the stairs, I stood and took my Indian by the hand and followed.  
We made our way to my room, and I allowed him to go in first and make him self comfortable. He walked over to the bed and sat down, pulling the handkerchief from around his neck. I closed the door behind me and made my way over to a bottle of whiskey that I kept in my room for the patrons.  
I picked it up and showed it to him.  
"Would ya like some whiskey?"  
He nodded, and I poured him a small glass and one for myself. I walked over to the bed and handed him his glass. He took a small drink, and flinched from the bitter taste. I laughed and set my glass down. I wasn't a heavy drinker, but it had a strong affect on me. I only really used it for the ugly men.  
I reached over and drew his face closer, but he pushed me away.  
"What?" I couldn't help but be a little offended. No one had ever pushed me away before.  
"Is this what you really want?"  
"Yes, of course. Why else would I be doing it?"  
He gave me a look.  
"Alright, it's not exactly what I've always wanted to do, but it serves its purpose. As long as it puts food in my mouth. Now come here."  
I leaned in, but he drew away again.  
"Please," I pleaded. " I need the money. Just enjoy it." I leaned in one more time, but he pulled away again, reaching into his shirt pocket. He pulled out a few pieces of paper and handed them to me. I stared at them. Three dollars.  
"This is enough for the whole night. If you don't want to do that then what's this for?"  
"I want you to tell me about yourself. I've been on a horse for three days now. I could do with a good story."  
I laughed and placed the money on the bed stand.  
"Alright, where should I start?"

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	2. Chapter 2 Stories

"Well," I began, trying to remember a past that I had almost forgotten, "I was born in Santa Fe. I never knew my mom, she died giving birth to me, but my daddy was a gunsmith, and he was pretty damn good, too. He raised me on his own, he never remarried. He taught me iron. We moved to Arizona when I was eight, to a little town called Blackwater. There wasn't much more than a Market and a bar when we got there, so daddy set up a gun shop. The town grew fast, and daddy got more and more famous for his guns. He was good at comin up with new ways to cut down on draw time and such.  
"But daddy made some enemies, too. He took in a little Cherokee girl, about my age, who's parents had been killed by some racist pigs down in Tucson. They followed her up to finish the job, and daddy defended her. They left, though, and we didn't hear from em for another couple of years. But me and the Cherokee girl got to be friends."  
The man interjected, "What was her name? The Cherokee girl?"  
"Hialee. It means beautiful meadow."  
He nodded. "And what's your name?"  
I smiled. "Kate."  
"Anyway," I went on, "We kept on livin in Blackwater. Daddy's business was good, and Hialee and I got jobs at the livery when we turned ten. We learned to ride there, so daddy bought us both horses. I had a real nice one- a Mountain Horse. She was a kind of stony-brown, and had a blond mane and tail- real sweet.  
"But, I'm getting off subject. Now, I told you that we didn't hear from those Tucson pigs for another few years. Well, it was on my eleventh birthday, when they got drunk up in Phoenix and decided to come down for a visit. They showed up at Daddy's store in the middle of the night. Hialee and I had already gone to bed. They got into a scuffle with Daddy, and, well… they shot him. Three bullets in the chest, one in his head. Then they set fire to the store. Our livin' quarters were right above it, and the smoke woke us up. We got out, and took the horses to the other side of town. We got the Sheriff, and he caught two of the men who shot my daddy, but the other three got away. We never found out what happened to them.  
"Once the Sheriff got Daddy's affairs in order, he sent me off to live with my Uncle Henry. He's the ugly one who owns this pit. I don't know what happened to Hialee after I left. My uncle wouldn't take her cause she's Indian. But I came to live in my uncle's house, and when I turned fourteen, he put me to work here. Clarissa came around a year after that. She's the blond next door with your short friend. She and I are like sisters now. We look out for each other. And that's it. That's me."  
He nodded and turned to look at me. He stared down into my eyes, and I was paralyzed. There was something about his gaze that just made me unable to move, unable to speak. His eyes were intelligent. They were dark, almost the color of coal, and seemed to be staring straight into my soul. It took all of the will I could muster to break the spell.  
"So, um… what's your name?"  
He looked away, and I gasped in relief.  
"Jose"  
"Jose." I said, glad that the moment was gone, "That's a good name. So why don't you tell me about yourself, Jose. After all, its only fair, I just told you my life story."  
He smiled a sad half-smile.  
"Alright. I was born and raised on the Red Sands Creek Reservation."  
My heart sank. I had heard about the Red Sands. I could tell that his story was not going to be a joyful one.  
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He told me about his mother- a young Navajo woman who had fallen in love with a Mexican Soldier who had promised to love her, then left her. He told me how His mother had never quite gotten over his father, but about how, seven years later, she had married a man from the tribe and had had three daughters. He told me about how hard life on the reservation had been. He told me how the company that had been under contract to supply them with beef had often fallen short on its duties.  
Then he told me about the winter when the company had sent rotten meat. he told me that he had gone out with a group of men to a trading post to get food, and how they had been betrayed. He told me that he was the only survivor, and how he had ridden home to the Red Sands only to find his family, friends, his entire tribe gone.  
He laid down on the bed, and I placed his head next to me as I sat listening. He seemed to be taking some kind of comfort in having me listen. I was glad to help him.  
He told me that He had gone to Lincoln to take revenge on the man at the head of the company who had failed to do their duty. He told me how he had been saved by a man named John Tunstall, and how he had taken up work on his ranch. Then he paused.  
"Kate?"  
"Yes?"  
"What would you say if I told you that I rode with Billy the Kid in the Lincoln County War?"  
I laughed. "I'd say you were crazy. Any man who rode with the Kid durin' that war would have skinned out West by now. They would never have stuck around New Mexico, not with the whole territory after them."  
He smiled his half-smile again. "So I guess you wouldn't believe me if I told you that your friend Clarissa is in there with The Kid himself?"  
I opened my mouth to say something, but then several loud raps sounded on the door, and a panicked voice yelled,  
"Chavez! It's Sheriff Brady! He's outside!"

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	3. Chapter 3 Death in the Family

_Hi again peoples :) Ok, so I was listening to Alice's Restaurant right before I wrote this chapter, and all I could think about was "Kill, KILL, KIIIIIILL" so.... ENJOY (again, I don't own Young Guns, OR Chavez... although I wish I did... I would keep him in my closet... I could use him to scare my mother in the mornings... *******evil plan forms :D...****) **By the way, sorry for any spelling errors, my spell check is spazzing._

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Jose Jumped off of the bed with unbelievable speed and flung open the door. The unshaven dusty-blonde one was standing in the doorway. His buffalo rifle was in his hand and he was loading it as he stood there.  
"Doc," Jose said, swiftly leaving the room, throwing a glance back at me.  
The blonde, whose name was apparently Doc, didn't look up from the rifle.  
"Go downstairs, Billy's already down there. I'm gonna go get the others." and with that he finished loading the rifle and sprinted down the hallway.  
Jose took the stairs two at a time, and I had trouble following him down in my dress. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he turned swiftly to me and put his hand on my shoulder, fixing me with that penetrating stare again.  
"Find your friend," he said, "Go back upstairs. Find a safe room and gather the others in it. This is going to be dangerous, Belita. I don't want you to get hurt."  
I nodded. I was all I could do with his eyes boring into me. Then he turned and ran to the short blonde who was standing in his undershirt and pants.  
I ran my eyes over the room and saw Clarissa in a corner by the door. I hurried over to her. When she saw me, her eyes widened.  
"Kate? What are they doin here? Why would Sheriff Brady come all the way from Lincoln for these boys? They cant possibly be all that bad."  
An explanation was nagging at the back of my mind, but I didn't trust it, so I just shook my head.  
"I dunno, Clarissa, but Jose says we should go upstairs and get the others, find somewhere safe for 'em."  
She nodded, without asking who Jose was, and hurried over to the staircase. I took a chance and glanced out of the window. It was dark outside now, but torches illuminated the faces of over twenty men. I recognized one of them as Sheriff Brady- I had seen a tin-type of him in the newspaper once. But two other faces were much more prominent, and one sent an icy shiver down my spine- the sweaty unshaven face of my uncle. He was sanding next to the other face in the crowd I knew. The Sheriff of Silver City was standing there, and I began to get a good idea of what had happened- my uncle had found out that these boys were wanted, probably worth some money, and had turned them in. The dirty rotten son of a bitch.  
Clarissa waited for me to reach her at the bottom of the stairs. As we started up, we were buffeted out of the way by Doc and the other two men. Most of the girls were gathered at the top of the stairs, trying to see down. We guided them into the room at the very end of the hallway, a room that was used mainly as a sewing room.  
Once everyone was in, I lit a candle and we sat in silence, listening to the goings-on downstairs. I heard Sheriff Brady shout something unintelligible to the men inside, and someone responded with a shout of "Kiss my ass" and some maniacal laughin' then a barrage of bullets tore through the front of the house. I could hear my uncle outside yelling. I laughed bitterly. Served him right.  
I heard our men inside talking to each other about something, no doubt coming up with a plan. Clarissa, who was sitting in a chair next to where I stood, was straining to hear what they were saying.

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"What's goin' on down there, Kate?"  
"I don't know. Maybe…" I opened the door just a crack and looked out. I could hear a little better. I caught snatches of the conversation downstairs:  
"…could go out the side…  
"Charlie, check it out."  
There was a an impatient shout from outside, followed by a shower of bullets. I waited for the shots to stop before I opened the door and began to slip out. But I was only halfway through before Clarissa grabbed me.  
"Kate, are you crazy?"  
"You wanna know what's goin on, don't ya? I'm gonna go find out."  
She looked at me, still holding my arm, then seemed to give up.  
"Fine. Just be careful."  
I smiled at her and moved her hand.  
"Always am." and with that I slipped out the door, closing it behind me. I made my way slowly down the hallway. I could hear murmurs from downstairs, but I couldn't make out what was being said. I took off my shoes and tiptoed down the stairs until I could just see them. Three of them- Doc, the short blonde, and the tall dirty one, were standing in a circle in the middle of the room. They were whispering. I saw Jose peering out of the window, with a rifle in his hand, keeping an eye on the people outside.  
"We gotta skin out, Billy," said Doc. My heart jumped to my throat as I put the name to a face. I recognized the short blonde from wanted signs posted all around Silver City. He was Billy the Kid.  
"We ain't gonna skin out, Doc."  
"We have to! even on a good day, we couldn't take twenty with five. Remember what happened at Alex's house. We gotta get outta here while we still can."  
Billy looked like he was gonna say something, but the short stalky one rushed in from the back of the house before he could get it out.  
"Charlie? Whad'ya find?"  
"We could get out the back, but its gonna be hard, we gotta distract 'em somehow."  
I spoke before I could stop myself.  
"I'll do it!"  
They looked up at me, surprised. None of them had realized I was there.  
Jose stepped forward.  
"Kate-"  
"No," I rushed down the rest of the stairs, "No, I can do it. You gotta, get out, right? I wanna help you." I turned to Billy. "You really are Billy the Kid, aren't you?"  
He smiled a toothy smile and nodded.  
"Oh, god. Well then, you do hafta get out. There's no other way. Just give me a gun."  
His smile never faltered as he handed it to me.  
"Now, when you guys hear me fire, you get out and ride as fast as you can. Get away from here. "  
They all nodded. All except for Jose. He stepped over to me and took me by the shoulder, staring at me again with those captivating eyes.  
"You don't have to do this, Belita. We can find another way out-"  
I wanted to ask what Belita meant, but there wasn't time  
"No, Jose. I want to do this. I don't want you to die. I don't want any of you to die. None of you deserve that, no matter what you've done."  
"Belita, I told you before. I don't want you to get hurt."  
"Well, its my choice, and I chose this. Now go, you're running out of time."

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He kept his eye's locked on mine for another short moment, then turned around and went to stand by Charlie.  
I nodded good-bye to them all, and started up the stairs. I had no plan, I hadn't thought that far ahead.  
Clarissa was waiting outside the door when I came back up. At first she looked relieved to see me okay, but her face fell when she saw the gun in my hand.  
"Kate, what the hell do you think you're gonna do?"  
"I'm gonna save their lives. That okay with you?"  
"Kate, this is crazy-"  
I opened the door to my bedroom and rushed over to the window. It faced the main street of the town, where the crowd was gathered, pointing their guns at the front of the brothel. None of them saw me open the window.  
"Kate!"  
I turned to her. She looked panicked. She had as little of an idea of what I was gonna do as I had.  
"Clarissa, get the other girls. Get them on the other side of the hallway. Move them down to a room closer to the stairs. If there's bullets, I don't want any of em getting hurt. You stay there to. I especially don't want you hurt."  
"Bullets, Kate?"  
"Clarissa," I put my hand on her shoulder to calm her down, "You're my best friend. You have to understand. Please." I looked into her eyes, and knew that that statement was only half true. She was my best friend, but I had had another one once… no. I wasn't gonna think about that. Clarissa seemed to get the message. She nodded reluctantly and ran out of the room. I heard her talking to the other girls in a hushed voice, and heard them shuffle quickly past.  
When I heard the door close, I knew they were safe, and I chanced another look out of the window. My eyes scanned the group of people, and found an unpleasant mark. My uncle was standing in the same spot he had been before, with a horrible toothless grin of satisfaction on his twisted face. I stared at him in loathing, wondering what the pig was thinking, when a plan suddenly formed itself in my mind. I lined up the gun as well as I could, resting it against the windowsill- this was because I wasn't familiar with the gun, and didn't want to take any chances. I had a gun of my own, but there was no time right now to find it.  
I gathered my courage and yelled down to him:  
"Hey, Uncle Henry!"  
He jumped about three feet into the air, and turned around, looking for the place my voice had come from. The other men had already found it, and were pointing their guns up at me.  
My uncle's fish mouth opened, but the words didn't make it out. I shouted one last thing to him:  
"See you in Hell!"  
And then I smiled and pulled the trigger.  
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_Ok, one last thing- I dont know when I'll get the next chapter up but it will probably be soon, maybe tomorrow. It all depends on if my computer is being slow like last time... hope you enjoyed, SEE YA LATER PEEPS :D_


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